I will be the prince at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 35 Craftsman
In the archery range of the military camp outside the city, there is a long table in front of Zhu Cixuan, on which are placed side by side firearms equipped by the Ming army, such as bird guns, three-eyed guns, Lumi guns, and flintlock guns.

In the distance, there are ten or twenty wooden targets scattered in order. These wooden targets are respectively ten feet, twenty feet, thirty feet, and fifty feet away from Zhu Cixuan's position. The center of the target paper is a red circle dyed with cinnabar with a radius of one inch.

Then draw a red concentric circle one inch away from the bull's-eye, and then draw a red concentric circle for each additional inch from the bull's-eye until nine rings around the bull's-eye are drawn on the target paper.

The red dots that hit the bull's-eye are ten rings, and the outermost ring is one ring. This was specially made by Zhu Cixuan by a carpenter in the army. The wooden target is as tall as a person, and it is inserted into the ground.

At this time, Zhu Cixuan picked up a blunderbuss, which is currently a standard weapon widely equipped in the Ming army. This blunderbuss has a longer barrel, a smaller caliber, a front sight and a rear sight, and a handle that supports the blunderbuss. The curved wooden support of the tube, and the gun mechanism is shaped like a bird's beak, so the Ming army also called it a bird's beak gun.The blunderbuss in Zhu Cixuan's hand is close to a modern rifle in terms of its basic structure and shape.

Zhu Cixuan first cleaned the ignition holes and pots of the blunderbuss.Pour the priming medicine into the pot of priming medicine, and close the lid of the pot of priming medicine.Unscrew the small bottle containing the propellant, pour the propellant from the muzzle, compact the gunpowder in the barrel with the purge rod attached to the gun, then take out a round lead bullet, put it into the muzzle, and With cleaning rods, tamping projectiles and propellant charges.

Light the match and secure the match to the match clip.Since the lid of the primer pot is closed at this time, there is no need to worry about the sparks of the matchlock igniting the primer and causing a fire.Aim at the archery target twenty feet away, pull the trigger, and at the same time as the matchlock falls, the lid of the primer pot opens, and the primer ignites the propellant.

"Bang" a huge amount of smoke was ejected from the muzzle of the bird gun, and the lead bullets flew out at a speed invisible to the naked eye, accurately hitting the target twenty feet away.Zhu Cixuan ran to the target and saw that the lead bullet was inlaid in the position of the fifth ring, penetrating half an inch into the wood. He smiled wryly and shook his head. Twenty feet, which is more than 60 meters, hit the score of the fifth ring, which made him feel uncomfortable. I know what to say, if you use a Mauser 98K rifle, not to mention ten rings, at least nine rings!
Zhu Cixuan fired more than a dozen shots from the birdcage. At a target 32 feet away, five shots hit [-] rings, and five shots at [-] feet away made [-] rings. At fifty feet, only one shot hit the target with five shots. Eight rings, probably the same The blind cat bumped into the dead mouse, and the lead bullets from the other four shots flew to nowhere.

Switching to a three-eyed blunderbuss, the accuracy is even worse. At twenty feet, you can still hit one or two shots. At thirty feet, you miss the target directly, and even a lead bullet misses the target.

Lumi blunderbuss shot 37 rings with five lead bullets, and the lead bullets directly penetrated the wooden target, thirty feet, and five lead bullets also scored 25 rings.Fifty feet hit ten rings, and the lead bullets were embedded in the wooden target for more than half an inch. In two of the shots, the lead bullets penetrated the wooden target.This made Zhu Cixuan's eyes brighten, this Lumi gun can do it!Powerful and accurate.

Finally, he picked up the flintlock gun. When Zhu Cixuan and Li Dingguo led the army to break the siege of Ba Shanzhai, he saw that the guard next to Mu Zhongxian was holding a kind of firecracker that he had never seen before. Xinxi, I want to come over and take a look, it turned out to be a flintlock gun, which was a rare item in the Ming army at that time. After asking Mu Zhongxian, I found out that this flintlock gun was made by Bi Maokang. There are very few stocks.

Mu Zhongxian saw that the prince couldn't put it down to flintlock guns, so he generously gave Zhu Cixuan two of them.

He found that the range and accuracy of the flintlock gun were similar to those of the Lumi blunderbuss, but the firing time was much shorter than that of the Lumi blunderbuss using a matchlock, and the operation was more convenient, so he asked Mu Zhongliang beside him:
"Can we make such a flintlock now?"

Mu Zhongliang said: "His Royal Highness, most of the military craftsmen in Jin Wang, Gong Chang Wang, Guang Ninghou, and Guangguo Duke's army can produce bird guns. You have to ask them to know about this kind of bird guns that are fired with flint. By the way, there are more than 100 craftsmen under Jin Yiwei, and some of them may be able to make bird guns."

"Jinyiwei has more than 100 craftsmen, you mean, these people are in Dali?"

"That's right! These people are in Dali."

Zhu Cixuan scratched his forehead. Li Dingguo, Bai Wenxuan, and He Jiuyi were all from Zhang Xianzhong's Daxi Army. They are now fighting outside. It is somewhat inappropriate for me to ask them for military craftsmen at this time.

There is no war in Dali now, and it is not a matter of saying that I want the craftsmen under the Jinyiwei. By the way, Xianning Hou Qi Sansheng and the general soldier Wei Yong led [-] soldiers to return. There must be military craftsmen in their army. Come here, regardless of carpenters, blacksmiths, gunpowder makers or masons, let them come to Kunming to open a military bureau, make steel, make flintlock guns, and cannons, yes, just do it.

The firearms of this era are already very developed, no less than that of the West. We must make full use of them and ignite the technology tree.Um!It is also necessary to cancel the craftsman's registration and encourage individuals to open workshops. Silk, ceramics, and tea can be exported in exchange for a large amount of silver in the West.I just need to send reliable people to collect tariffs.

Increasing commercial taxes, reducing agricultural taxes, liberating the social labor force, and improving the income and status of craftsmen, Zhu Cixuan became more and more excited when he thought about it, so he stopped fighting and hurried back to the Qianguo government.

Let Qing Chan and Qing Yu take the brush and ink and write three letters in a row, Xianning Marquis Qi Sansheng, Chief Soldier Wei Yong, Jinyi Wei Zhang Wei Ren Zixin each wrote a letter.

It was given to Xianning Marquis Qi Sansheng and Chief Soldier Wei Yong, to the effect that the crown prince, I want to rebuild the military bureau in Kunming, and after they read the letter, all the general's military craftsmen will be transferred to Kunming immediately.

Ren Zixin, the guard in charge of Jinyiwei, asked him to transfer all the craftsmen under Jinyiwei to Kunming, and the crown prince wanted to use these people.

After the letter was written, Zhu Cixuan called Mu Zhongliang, and asked him to send capable people to lead 300 capable Donggong guards to Dali, and sent the three letters to Xianning Marquis Qi Sansheng, Chief Soldier Wei Yong, and Jinyiwei Zhang Wei Ren Zixin. , Escorted the craftsmen to Kunming safely and without error.

At the same time, Zhu Cixuan allocated 1000 taels of silver and [-] war horses, so that the craftsmen could eat and rest well along the way.Six hundred war horses, three hundred of which were used by the guards, and the other three hundred were harnessed to the carriage to transport the tools of these craftsmen and their families.If three hundred war horses are not enough, let the guards of the Eastern Palace walk, and take good care of these craftsmen.

The next day, Zhu Cixuan personally received the [-] guards of the Eastern Palace, and said loudly: "Ming warriors, your trip to Dali this time and escorting the artisans to Kunming is the key to whether our Ming can defeat the Tartars in the future.

Don't look down on craftsmen. They can make red cannons, sharp bird guns, Lumi guns, and even more powerful flintlock guns. Brothers who have used these firearms know the role of these firearms in fighting the Tartars. I won't say much here, I'll just say a little bit.

You have to take good care of the life of these craftsmen along the way, so that they are fed and clothed warmly. I will allocate 1000 taels of silver here, and the 1000 taels of silver will be used exclusively for these craftsmen and their families. , if the prince hears that someone has deducted the rations of the craftsmen and wantonly insulted these craftsmen and their families, then, don't blame the prince for hitting you, do you understand? "

"Understood." The three hundred guards of the Eastern Palace shouted in unison.

"Okay, each soldier participating in this mission will be rewarded with two taels of silver. Now, go forward and get it one by one." Zhu Cixuan reached out and opened a box next to him, which was full of white silver, and all of them were Replaced two two one ingot.

The soldiers lined up and stepped forward one by one, and Zhu Cixuan handed over the silver ingots to each soldier.Every soldier is very excited to receive money from the prince. You know, two liang of silver is equivalent to their one-month military salary, and His Royal Highness handed it to them. Qianhu would never do this, what an honor it is!Can the honor of a lifetime be boasted, can the soldiers be unhappy?

(End of this chapter)